Return to This Universe

New York Sanctum

Xiao Han's figure landed silently on the Sanctum's rooftop, the Time Stone hovering in his palm and glowing with a dim green light.

He gently pushed open the skylight and leaped inside.

The Ancient One stood in the center of the hall with her back to him, as though she had long expected his arrival.

"You keep your word." Her voice was calm as still water.

Xiao Han stepped forward and handed her the Time Stone. "Returning it to its rightful owner."

The Ancient One accepted the Stone, her fingertips brushing the Eye of Agamotto. Green light blossomed as the Stone floated slowly into place within it.

She looked up at Xiao Han, a trace of curiosity in her eyes. "You changed their future."

"Just helped out a little." Xiao Han shrugged. "Thanos no longer exists."

The Ancient One raised an eyebrow slightly. "You killed him?"

"One snap was all it took." Xiao Han's tone was casual.

The Ancient One fell silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled. "Interesting. The timeline shifted because of you, yet the balance of the universe was unaffected."

She paused. "Perhaps that is why another version of me was willing to trust you."

"Still, this is only temporary. You'll have plenty to deal with later."

Xiao Han neither agreed nor disagreed, instead asking, "Where is Strange now?"

"He is still working as a surgeon." The Ancient One looked out the window.

"He still has a long way to go before becoming the Sorcerer Supreme."

"That's good." Xiao Han nodded. "At least this time, he won't have to go through all that pain."

The Ancient One looked at him. "What do you plan to do next?"

The corners of Xiao Han's mouth rose. "Go home."

He raised a hand, golden energy flowing around his fingertips as a portal slowly unfolded.

On the other side was the familiar New York skyline—his own universe.

"Ancient One," he said, turning back before stepping through the portal, "if you get the chance, come visit my side."

The Ancient One smiled faintly. "I will."

The portal closed, and Xiao Han's figure vanished completely.

The Ancient One remained where she was, gently stroking the Eye of Agamotto with her fingertips as she murmured, "Perhaps we truly do need a Superman."

Earth-169278 Universe

New York

Xiao Han appeared inside the laboratory at Stark Tower.

Tony Stark was bent over, adjusting his nanotech armor. Hearing the sound, he jerked his head up, nearly dropping the tool in his hand again.

"Damn it! How many times has this been now, Xiao? Could you stop appearing out of nowhere like that?!" Tony stared at him wide-eyed.

"You vanished for three days. I thought some cover girl had lured you away."

Xiao Han chuckled. "I took a trip to another universe and dealt with a minor problem while I was there."

Tony eyed him suspiciously. "What problem?"

"Thanos."

Tony looked even more confused. "Fine, I don't understand that either."

Xiao Han walked over to the workbench, casually picked up a cup of coffee, and took a sip despite it having gone cold. "The details aren't important. How's the armor development going?"

Tony opened his mouth, seemingly burdened with countless questions, but in the end, he merely rubbed his temples. "Forget it. You're always like this. The nanotech armor is basically finished, but the energy core still needs optimization."

Xiao Han set down the coffee cup, took out a chunk of raw Vibranium ore from the system space, and tossed it to Tony. "Take a look at this."

Tony caught it quickly. The moment he looked down, his eyes lit up. "Vibranium?! Where did you get this?"

"Wakanda." Xiao Han spoke casually. "Borrowed some."

Tony's mouth twitched. "Borrowed? Are you sure you didn't steal it?"

Xiao Han spread his hands innocently. "They had more than they could use anyway."

Tony rolled his eyes, but he was quickly captivated by Vibranium's properties and began fiddling with it excitedly. "With this, the armor can definitely be upgraded, but this is a little too little. Still, let me study it first."

Xiao Han watched Tony sink into a frenzy of research, smiled, and turned toward the floor-to-ceiling windows.

Outside, stars dotted New York's night sky, while the city lights flowed like a river of galaxies.

His Super Hearing caught the wail of distant sirens, the conversations of pedestrians, and even the vibrations of the subway tracks underground.

Everything was so familiar, yet filled with endless possibilities.

[System Notice: Host's current growth points: 15000. Enter the system shop to exchange for rewards?]

With a thought from Xiao Han, the system interface unfolded before his eyes. He browsed through the dazzling array of goods, and his gaze finally settled on [Doomsday Cells].

"800000 points... still a long way to go," he murmured.

But that was fine. He had plenty of time.

Xiao Han turned around and walked back to the workbench.

Tony was bent over the holographic projection, adjusting the nanostructure as his fingers flew through streams of data.

Suddenly, a thick stack of metal documents was slapped onto the workbench in front of him with a bang, making even his coffee cup wobble.

"What's this?" Tony frowned and looked up, discovering Xiao Han standing beside the table with an amused smile on his face.

"A new toy for you." Xiao Han tapped the stack of documents. "More interesting than Vibranium."

Tony suspiciously opened the first page, his gaze sweeping over the dense formulas and three-dimensional structural diagrams.

His fingers suddenly stopped, and his pupils narrowed slightly.

"Wait... this is..." His voice carried a rare trace of shock.

The holographic projection automatically captured the contents of the documents and immediately expanded a complex energy model beside them.

A miniature star was confined within a magnetic field matrix. Scorching plasma burned steadily within the force field, releasing pure, surging energy.

"An artificial sun?"

Tony abruptly looked up, his sharp gaze fixed on Xiao Han. "This technology doesn't exist on Earth at all! A year ago, Spider-Man defeated a guy who was researching something similar."

"And yours..." He pointed at the projection. "Fuck! You stuffed a star into a reactor?!"

Xiao Han shrugged. "Alien technology. A little better than your little light bulb."

Tony grabbed the documents and flipped through them rapidly, muttering under his breath, "Magnetic confinement parameters, plasma turbulence suppression, this energy density..."

He suddenly looked up, his eyes burning. "Where did you get this? Don't tell me you developed it yourself!"

"Spoils from another universe," Xiao Han cut him off.

"The exact source doesn't matter. What matters is..." He pointed to an equation at the end of the documents.

"This thing can be built."

Tony took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

He set down the documents, braced both hands on the table, and lowered his head in silence for several seconds before suddenly grinning.

"JARVIS, clear my schedule for tonight."

"Sir, you have dinner scheduled with Miss Pepper."

"Postpone it. No, cancel it." Tony didn't even look up, his fingers already dancing across the holographic keyboard.

"Tell her... uh, tell her the end of the world is coming again, and I need to save Earth."

Xiao Han raised an eyebrow. "Using an excuse like that?"

"It works every time." Tony kept his head down, fully focused on pulling up Stark Industries' energy database.

"Wait."

Tony suddenly narrowed his eyes. "You aren't planning to use this artificial sun..."

"To replace your Arc Reactor?" Xiao Han smiled.

"No, something even more direct." He tapped his chest.

"It can keep supplying me with energy when I'm far from a star. And for you..."

Tony finished his sentence, madness flashing in his eyes. "Unlimited energy. Real, clean, inexhaustible energy."

He suddenly stood up. "JARVIS, contact Rhodey. Request the military's abandoned nuclear test site in Alamogordo. Tell them I want to rent it for a week!"

Xiao Han crossed his arms. "Shouldn't we do a small-scale test first?"

"Small-scale?" Tony scoffed, drawing a spherical structure ten meters in diameter across the hologram with his finger.

"This is small-scale—the first-generation prototype. It'll have enough power to light up all of Manhattan." He paused, suddenly frowning.

"Still, the stability of the containment field is a problem. If the plasma leaks..."

"Then Manhattan won't be lit up. It'll be vaporized," Xiao Han calmly added.

Tony glared at him. "That isn't funny at all."

"I'm not joking." Xiao Han walked to the workbench and traced several golden paths through the projection with his finger.

"That's why the magnetic field generator needs improvement. Use Vibranium as the base, then incorporate Uru's magical properties."

"To give the force field self-repair capabilities!" Tony slammed his palm onto the table.

"Genius! I'm starting to appreciate you more and more, Xiao! What the hell are you? Are all aliens this ridiculous?"